When I was in Tokyo, the first time I went to Hombu, I simply walked up to the front desk and handed over my yudansha passport along with whatever the sign indicated was the daily rate. Subsequently, I just passed over the daily rate without the passport when I walked in for morning class, the first of three I was taking each day.

I don't recall off the top of my head what the charge was at that time, but it calculated out to less than the daily training rate at NY Aikikai at the time.

Of course, given the number of classes offered in both places and the usual level of instruction available, it looks to me as if paying the daily rate and catching all available classes compares quite favorably with the economics of your standard weekend seminar, even if you don't have a yudansha book and hand and there is a $75 registration fee tacked on the front end.